


Misunderstood

by rinstop



Series: Prompt fills [51]
Category: Free!
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Crack, M/M, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-28 15:19:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6334123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinstop/pseuds/rinstop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Nitori is suspicious and they get caught</p>
            </blockquote>





	Misunderstood

It’s Nitori who catches Rin and Sousuke making out in the corner of the locker room after an extra late practice session - and to be fair to him he tries to keep it a secret. But boarding schools have an over-active grapevine - what with being a somewhat insular campus community - and the locker rooms aren’t terribly discreet even after practice hours anyway, so it’s not really his fault that word gets out eventually. Rin tells him not to worry about it, says the upside to pretty much everyone on the swim team (and probably the whole school, in a vague-rumour sort of way) knowing that the Captain is banging his friend is that he hasn’t had anyone knocking on their dorm door to annoy him since. Not dealing with questions about their training regimens and technique improvements in his spare-time, because everyone assumes they want alone time to fuck, is a plus as far as he is concerned.

Nitori still feels bad about it though, feels responsible because he was the first person to know, even if he couldn’t have done anything to stop others from finding out. So keeping Momo from bugging Rin-senpai is his way of making it up to them. Sousuke-senpai doesn’t really scare him anymore, especially since the coaching sessions, but he can’t help feel like he should give them space. 

That feeling ends up changing somewhat when Momo drags him to the park on the weekend, because he wants to catch another beetle, either as a friend for Pyunsuke or to impress Gou (he isn’t too sure, and to be honest, he doesn’t know why he was dragged along - it’s not like he’s going to actually help catch the bug).

But that’s the reason that he’s crouched in the bushes when he sees Sousuke’s tall figure in the corner of his eye. He’s about to stand up and wave - maybe Sousuke-senpai can be his get-out-of-bug-catching-free-card - when he sees that he is walking with someone else, someone with cady-floss hair and an energetic step. Of course, that’s no reason to be suspicious, but the stranger’s arm is wrapped comfortably around Sousuke-senpai’s waist. Nitori immediately shrinks back into the foliage, reaching out to shake Momo into witnessing the spectacle too, though he has to shush the red-head to keep him from revealing their presence. They stop in an open area where several paths meet and talk for a while, but neither Nitori nor Momo can hear a word. When they finally say goodbye it is with a kiss and the stranger bounds away, waving as he turns the corner.

“Momo-kun! Did you see that?! That guy kissed Sousuke-senpai! And did you see how they walked off together?”

“Huh? Nitori-senpai, what are you saying?”

He comes to the only conclusion that he can. “I…I hate to say this, but…Sousuke-senpai is cheating on Rin-senpai. I can’t believe he would do that! Oh, what are we going to do? Rin-senpai is going to be heartbroken.”

“So…what should we do? Should we tell Rin-senpai?”

Now that was the question. Should they tell Rin-senpai straight away, or confront Sousuke-senpai about it? Nitori chewed his lip as he thought.

“Maybe…maybe we should tell Sousuke-senpai that we saw him. And that way, maybe he’ll take responsibility and tell Rin-senpai the truth.”

The fact that Momo looks so impressed with the idea makes him think it’s a good one, even if he isn’t sure that Momo’s esteem is the best yard-stick to use. It’s the only one he has for the moment so it will have to do. They follow Sousuke back to the dorm - a slightly longer route than necessary, because Sousuke manages to not pay attention on the train and misses his stop - but they do not find an opportunity to speak with him about what they have seen.

The spanner in the works comes when he sees the pink-haired stranger again, this time with Rin. They’re at the edge of campus, near the gates and Nitori is only wandering around because he had dropped his watch somewhere near the beginning and is hoping someone found it and handed it in to the reception. He jumps behind a tree when he sees that they are holding hands, heart in his mouth and just manages to catch the last of their goodbyes.

“-it’ll be easy to keep it a secret from Sousuke, don’t worry. The problem will be sneaking you in for the night. But I’ll text you anyway, ok, Kisumi? See you!”

He wonders, sardonically, if it is something that this guy does with all of his friends, but Rin pulls him in for a quick kiss - on the lips! - before they part ways and Nitori stays hidden behind the tree, mind whirring in turmoil. When he gets back to his dorm-room, he shakes Momo awake, rattling the frame of their bunkbed.

“Momo-kun, they’re both cheating! On each other, with the same guy!! What are we going to do?!”

He frets over the problem for days, unable to look either of his upper-classmen in the eye for the terrible secret he holds. It makes him jittery, because he is constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop and wonders if he should say something before they find out for themselves. He decides not to when he sees him leaving the cafeteria as he is getting in line for food, the day before Sousuke-senpai’s birthday - because a birthday should be a grace period where nothing bad happens. He’ll say something after, he tells himself.

But that’s when he get’s a text from Momo, saying that he has seen Rin-senpai and the pink-haired charlatan sneaking through the campus in the direction of the dorms and what should he do? And that’s enough to make him put his foot down and set him running, determined to stop Sousuke-senpai from the heartache of catching the adultery on the day before his birthday. He takes a moment to wonder how Rin-senpai could be so cruel as to do such a thing on this day, of all days and whips his phone out to call Momo as he runs. 

“Momo! We have to stop them!”

He runs even if he has no chance of stopping Sousuke from finding out - he left the cafeteria a good fifteen minutes or so before - but Nitori thinks he can help with the damage control and broken hearts that are bound to happen. He skids into the dorm halls around the same time as Momo and they run to the door, throwing it open with a yell, 

“NO, SENPAI! DON’T -!”

Three heads turn to look at them and Nitori croaks, voice gone, as he takes in the sight before him. All three of them in various states of undress, Sousuke already shirtless and sandwiched between them, Rin pressed against his back and probably the reason for the glaring hickey on the back of his neck, while Bubblegum Hair has one hand down the front of Sousuke’s trousers. A whispered ‘sorry’ makes it’s way out of his mouth as he hurriedly tugs a shamelessly gawking Momo out of the room and shuts the door behind him before their faces can change from surprise to anything else.

Well. It seems he has had completely the wrong idea.


End file.
